March, 1918 
31 
mum or may stop altogether. When dry, they 
are likely to bake, becoming so hard that they 
cannot be worked, and shutting out air and 
moisture from the plant roots. A pure clay 
soil, therefore, is undesirable for gardening, 
although it may be fairly rich in plant food. 
A sandy soil, on the other hand, is likely to 
contain very little plant food. While water 
passes through it readily, very little will be 
retained. While it may be cultivated more 
conveniently than any other soil, in hot weather 
it becomes so loose and dry that growth is 
soon brought to a standstill. A sandy soil, 
therefore, is undesirable for gardening. 
Muck soils, in their natural condition, are 
almost always too wet for successful cultiva¬ 
tion. When they have been drained they are 
usually deficient in available plant food, al¬ 
though they may be as “black as your hat” and 
therefore look “rich.” In some cases, they 
contain a considerable amount of nitrogen, 
which makes for luxuriant growth of some 
things. Such soils are, however, very retentive 
of moisture and can be worked soon after wet 
weather and in the driest of weather—although 
they may be so light and spongy that some 
crops can be grown in them only with difficulty. 
While such things as celery and lettuce may 
be grown upon them, the root crops and most 
of the other vegetables are inclined to develop 
an overabundance of leaf growth without a 
correspondingly good growth of root or fruits. 
Muck soils, therefore, while better than either 
straight clay or pure sand soil, are far from 
satisfactory for general gardening. 
Loam soils—which are usually designated 
as either clay loams or sandy loams—are a 
combination of clay or sand with other mate¬ 
rial such as a gradual accumulation of decayed 
vegetable matter which, from year to year, has 
been added to the soil through the growth and 
decomposition of plants and grasses of various 
kinds. A loam soil may or may not be sup¬ 
plied naturally with plant food, and may have 
too much clay or too much sand in its com¬ 
position. It is, of course, better than either 
sand or clay alone. Usually, however, it is far 
from ideal both in its contents of plant food 
and in its mechanical character. 
In connection with any of these types of 
soils, there are also other things to be con¬ 
sidered. One is the exposure of the land; is 
it sheltered from the cold north and northwest 
winds? Does it lie well up compared to the 
surrounding country, or in a hollow or pocket ? 
Is the sub-soil beneath it such that any surplus 
water will be readily carried away or held 
back, to keep the surface soil wet? 
Ideal Soils 
It is quite certain, therefore, that the gar¬ 
dener who expects to find ideal garden con¬ 
ditions ready made for his use is pretty sure 
to be disappointed. The method which he will 
probably have to follow in the end, and the 
one which he had best adopt at the beginning, 
is to take the land he has at hand and build 
as quickly as possible toward the ideal. He 
should not try this, that and the other thing, 
haphazard, to see if it will make his garden 
grow. It is far wiser to analyze his conditions 
and to set about correcting them systematically. 
What is the ideal soil and what are the ideal 
conditions for general gardening? 
First, the soil should be very porous, to per¬ 
mit thorough and quick drainage of any sur¬ 
plus water. Second, very retentive of moisture 
so it will not suffer too quickly from dry 
weather. Third, it should rest upon a sub¬ 
soil that can carry off quickly any surplus of 
moisture passed through the surface soil. 
Fourth, it should be well supplied with all 
the necessary plant foods. The most impor¬ 
tant of these are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 
and potash. Fifth, it should be of a character 
that will furnish the best conditions for fur¬ 
thering the growth of soil bacteria. 
Making Your Own Tests 
The first question for the gardener to solve, 
then, is how he can make his soil or take his 
soil and change it by the quickest and most 
economical means so that it will approach as 
nearly as possible this ideal. 
First of all, your soil should be tested for 
four different things: one, to see if it is de¬ 
ficient in plant food and, if so, in what par¬ 
ticular kind of plant food; two, to see whether 
it is acid or “sweet”; three, to determine 
whether it contains the proper proportion of 
humus; four, to determine whether the soil 
bacteria, especially those favoring the growth 
of legumes, are present in sufficient quantities. 
This may sound as if you need a full- 
(Continued on page 66) 
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Mass. Lee Porter, decorator 
[Below) Linen table runner, 
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Northend 
A FOOTNOTE on TABLE RUNNERS 
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Used with or without a col¬ 
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